Disposable container

ABSTRACT

A collapsible urinal which folds flat for storage, and erects into a container of generally pyramidal shape. The container is made from a flat blank which is folded and sealed such that no interior fluid traps are formed and so all raw unsealed edges of the blank are outwardly facing to prevent fluid absorption along these edges. The container is easily emptied and rinsed, and can be reused several times before disposal.

[76] Inventor: Nicholas E. Griffin, 881 South 3369727 2/1968 United States Patent [1 1 I [111 3,731,869 Griffin I 11 May 8, 1973 54] .DISPOSABLE CONTAINER 3,163,868 1/1965 Steel etal. ..229/22x Grand Avenue, Pasadena, Calif. '3'535'7M 10/1970 91105 3,612,133 10/1971 [22] Filed: July 2, 1971 Primary Examiner-Davis T. Moorhead [2]] Appl. No.: 159,433

Att0rney-Robert L. Parker et a1.

52 us. on ..229/22',4/11o [571 ABSTRACT [51] Int. Cl. ..B65d 5/00 A collapsible urinal which f ld fl t f Storage, and [58] Field of Search ..229/8, 22, 41 B,

. erects into a container of generally pyramidal shape. 229/41 C; 4/1 10, 112 The container is made from a flat blank which is folded and sealed such that no interior fluid traps are [56] References Cited formed and so all raw unsealed edges of the blank are UNITED STATES PATENTS outwardly facing to preyent l'luid absorption along these edges. The container 15 eas1ly emptied and 3,306,515 2/1967 Beaumont ..229/22 rinsed, and can be reused several times before 3,250,454 5/1966 Steiger ..229/22 disposal. 1,041,504 10/1912 Moore 229/3.1 UX

3,032,251 5/1962 .larund ..229/22 2 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PATENTED HAY 8 I975 sum 1 OF 2 I N 'VEN TOR. Maw/44 A 5 m DISPOSABLE CONTAINER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION U.S. Pat. No. 3,306,515. These containers are used as disposable urinals, and they fulfill an increasing demand from hospitals for compactly stored, disposable products as described in detail in the aforementioned patent.

The container here disclosed is generally similar in overall shape and folding geometry to the unit shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,306,515, but the new design has several significant improvements. All raw edges of the material from which the container is made are exterior to the container contents so fluid absorption along these edges is eliminated. The container is also constructed to be free of internal traps or pockets which interfere with efflcient rinsing of the interior when the container is to be reused.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a collapsible and disposable urinal container formed from a flat sheet of an im permeable material which is preferably cardboard with faces sealed by a plastic film. The container is shaped as a hollow frustum of a pyramid with a triangular base, and a triangular opening at its upper end. The frustum has congruent side walls integrally secured along two sides of the base. The side walls extend upwardly from the base toward each other, and are sealingly bonded together adjacent and along inclined front edges so these edges are exterior and isolated from fluid'in the container.

The frustum further has a rear wall integrally secured to and extending upwardly from a third edge of the base. The rear wall has upwardly inclined and outwardly facing side edges, and the rear and side walls have elongated tabs which are sealingly bonded together along these edges and along rear edges of the side walls. The bonded tabs which join the rear and side walls are folded against and secured to an outer face of the rear wall. All edges of the sheet material forming the container are exterior to and isolated from fluid in the container, and the container is free of internal fluidtrapping pockets between the joined walls.

The frustum base has a transverse crease where it joins the rear wall, and a central longitudinal crease extends across the'base and rear wall to bisect the transverse crease. The base and rear wall are foldable along the creases to be collapsed between the side walls so the frustum can be folded flat for storage or shipment.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a container according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the container taken on line 2--2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a top view of the container taken on line 3- 3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an end view of the container taken on line 4-4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a section on line 5-5 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged section on line 6-6 of FIG. 1; and I FIG. 7 .is a plan view of a flat blank from which the container is folded, the view'being of a surface which becomes the inner surface of the container.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A container 10 according to the invention is shown in FIGS. l-4, and is formed from a flat blank 11 shown in FIG. 7-. Blank 11 is a flexible, impermeable material which is preferably cardboard (known as tag" board coated on both sides with a film of polyethylene plastic. This film seals the surfaces of the blank against absorption of fluid,- and adapts the blank for heat sealing of adjacent surfaces after theblank is folded to form the container. The polyethylene fllm is preferably about 1 mil in thickness on the inner surface of the container, and about one-half mil in thickness on the outer surface of the container.

Blank 11 is cut from a larger sheet of the polyethylene-coated material to the shape shown in FIG. 7, and is preferably scored during the cutting step to form fold lines or creases shown as dashed lines in FIG. 7. The blank defines a container base 13 shaped as an isosceles triangle, a pair of side walls 14 and 15 and a rear wall 16. The junction between side walls 14 and 15 with base 13 is marked by creases 17 (forming side legs of the triangular base), and the junction between rear wall 16 and the base is marked by a transverse crease 18 (forming a base leg of the triangular base).

A longitudinal crease 19 extends along the center line of the blank, and bisects base 13 and rear wall 16. The rear wall also includes a pair of creases 20 extending from opposite ends of and diverging away from crease 18 to intersect at center crease 19.

Rear wall 16 of the blank includes a pair of elongated tabs 23 extending along its side edges, and the tabs are foldable along creases 24. The end of the rear wall also has a tab 25 which is foldable along a crease 26. Side walls 14 and 15 similarly have tabs 28 along their forward edges, and these tabs are foldable along creases 29. Each side wall further includes a second tab 30 along the rear edge thereof and foldable along a crease 31. Adjacent pairs of tabs 23 and 30 are integrally joined at a crease 32.

An apertured handle 33 is integrally formed with and extends away from tab 28 on side wall 15. A crease 34 extends along the length of the handle parallel to crease 29 to permitthe' handle to be folded back on itself as explained below.

To assemble container 10 from blank 11, side walls 14 and 15 are bent upwardly along creases 17 to bring tabs 28 together as shown in FIGS. 1, 3 and 5. Rear wall 16 is also folded upwardly along crease 18 to fold the two pairs of tabs 23 and 30 around crease 32 into abutting alignment. The aligned pairs of tabs are then folded rearwardly against the outer surface of wall 16 as shown in FIGS. 2, 4 and 6. Tab 25 is similarly bent rearwardly along crease 26 against the outer face of rear wall 16.

As best seen in FIG. 5, handle 33 is folded along crease 34 to overlap tab 28 on side wall 14. The two tabs 28 and the overlapping portion of handle 33 are then secured together over their full lengths, and this bonding is preferably achieved by heat sealing the adjacent faces of the polyethylene-coated material. Tabs 23, 30and the outer'face of rear wall 16 are similarly heat-sealed together as shown in H6. 6. Finally, tab 25 is heat-sealed against the outer face of rear wall 16.

When assembled as described above, container is in the form of a hollow frustum of a pyramid (see FIGS. 1 and 3) with a triangular opening 36 at its upper end. Folded tab 25 is provided to avoid a rough edge along the rear side of this triangular opening. Base 13 provides a stable foundation for the container when it is filled with fluid.

Container 10 is folded flat for storage or shipment by folding base 13 and rear wall 16 inwardly along center crease 19 to move side walls 14 and together until the container is substantially flat. Creases 20 permit the rear wall to fold smoothly without buckling or wrinkling. The container is erected for use by reversing the above steps. The container can be reused several times simply by emptying and rinsing with water after each use.

A significant feature of the improved design of this container is that no internal pockets or traps are formed to interfere with efficient rinsing and sanitizing of a container which is to be reused. The new design also uses less material than previous designs, and occupies less volume when folded flat for storage or shipment. Assembly is also simplified in the new unit as the heat-sealed joints of the assembled blank are straightforward line seals which are quickly and easily formed with simple equipment.

Another important feature of the new design is that raw edges of the die-cut blank are isolated from liquid in the container. The faces of the blank are sealed by the polyethylene film and are impermeable to liquid, but the cardboard core of the blank is exposed at the edges by the die-cutting operation which forms the blank. If these raw cardboard edges are immersed in liquid in the container, absorption of the liquid will occur and interfere with sanitary rinsing of the container interior. This problem is completely avoided in the new design by confining all raw edges of the blank to the exterior of the container so these edges are isolated from the container contents. The interior of the container is in effect a polyethylene bag which is backed up and structurally reinforced by a cardboard core isolated from the container interior.

What is claimed is:

1. A collapsible and disposable urinal container formed from a flat, unitary sheet of an impermeable material, and comprising:

a hollow frustum of a pyramid having a triangular opening at its upper end and having a substantially isosceles-triangular base with first and second side legs and a base leg;

the frustum including first and second congruent side walls integrally secured along the first and second side legs respectively of the base, each side wall having inclined front and rear edges and an upper edge, each side wall defining an elongated tab adjacent and generally parallel to the rear edge, the side walls extending upwardly from the base toward each other and being sealingly bonded together adjacent and along the inclined front edges so the front edges are exterior to and isolated from fluid in the container; the frustum having a rear wall with a lower edge integrally secured to the base along the base leg, and having upwardly inclined side edges, the rear wall defining a pair of elongated tabs adjacent and parallel to the side edges, each rear-wall tab being sealingly bonded face-to-face with an adjacent side-wall tab, the bonded rearand side-wall tabs in turn being folded against and bonded to an outer surface of the rear wall whereby a fluid-tight seal is formed between the rear and side walls, the side-wall rear edges and rear-wall side edges being exterior to and isolated from fluid in the container, and whereby the formation of fluid-trapping pockets within the container between the joined walls is avoided;

the frustum base having a transverse crease formed along the base leg and a central longitudinal crease extending across the base between the side legs to intersect the transverse crease, the longitudinal crease further extending centrally across the rear wall, the base and rear wall being foldable along the creases to be collapsed between the side walls and to collapse the hollow frustum to a substantially flat shape.

2. The container defined in claim 1 in which said sheet of impermeable material is a cardboard sheet having a film of polyethylene plastic on both sides, the side walls and rear walls being secured together by heat seals. 

1. A collapsible and disposable urinal container formed from a flat, unitary sheet of an impermeable material, and comprising: a hollow frustum of a pyramid having a triangular opening at its upper end and having a substantially isosceles-triangular base with first and second side legs and a base leg; the frustum including first and second congruent side walls integrally secured along the first and second side legs respectively of the base, each side wall having inclined front and rear edges and an upper edge, each side wall defining an elongated tab adjacent and generally parallel to the rear edge, the side walls extending upwardly from the base toward each other and being sealingly bonded together adjacent and along the inclined front edges so the front edges are exterior to and isolated from fluid in the container; the frustum having a rear wall with a lower edge integrally secured to the base along the base leg, and having upwardly inclined side edges, the rear wall defining a pair of elongated tabs adjacent and parallel to the side edges, each rear-wall tab being sealingly bonded face-to-face with an adjacent sidewall tab, the bonded rear- and side-wall tabs in turn being folded against and bonded to an outer surface of the rear wall whereby a fluid-tight seal is formed between the rear and side walls, the side-wall rear edges and rear-wall side edges being exterior to and isolated from fluid in the container, and whereby the formation of fluid-trapping pockets within the container between the joined walls is avoided; the frustum base having a transverse crease formed along the base leg and a central longitudinal crease extending across the base between the side legs to intersect the transverse crease, the longitudinal crease further extending centrally across the rear wall, the base and rear wall being foldable along the creases to be collapsed between the side walls and to collapse the hollow frustum to a substantially flat shape.
 2. The container defined in claim 1 in which said sheet of impermeable material is a cardboard sheet having a film of polyethylene plastic on both sides, the side walls and rear walls being secured together by heat seals. 